


The Price of Kidness

by SteveTrevorsStarship



Series: RoyEd OTPoly 2020 [5]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: ACTUALLY WAIT YES HE IS, Childhood Memories, Domestic Fluff, Flashbacks, Get a dentist, Kid Fic, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and no roy isnt a kid this time, i lied that was a lie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25230856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteveTrevorsStarship/pseuds/SteveTrevorsStarship
Summary: In which Roy talks about storms during his childhood and Ed surprises him with... sap?. . .“What’s zest?”“Well, sometimes it’s when you shave an orange’s peel. That’s called an orange zest. And sometimes it’s when people just like living so much that they’ll laugh at anything.” Maddy pauses and holds up her hand in a claw. “Even the terrible tickle monster.”“No!” Roy gasps. “Who would laugh at the tickle monster?”
Relationships: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Series: RoyEd OTPoly 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813930
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37
Collections: RoyEd OTPoly 2020





	The Price of Kidness

**Author's Note:**

> i really have no idea what this fic is about, I just wrote until I couldn't anymore. this title was a typo that I kept because I think I'm funny. Can't tell if they're OOC or just ridiculously domestic in this. 
> 
> Prompt: Either Ed or Roy bring up a memory from the past. Choose either: tooth-rotting fluff or heavy angst. Word count: 583-1004
> 
> House level: Include at least 50% as flashbacks or dreams. Word count: 1294-2402
> 
> House level.

Ed sighs, looking out the window at the rain. It’s pouring over the cement, blocking any real visibility for at least twenty feet. 

“Why are you staring out the window?” Roy asks, sidling up next to him and placing a gentle hand over Ed’s shoulder blade. 

“So I can see the beautiful day,” Ed says sarcastically. “What do you think, bastard?” 

“I think you have something on your mind.” 

Ed hums for a moment and Roy can only wonder what’s going on inside that beautiful brain of his before the younger man says, “On rainy days, my mom used to take us out to the lake and we would swim in it. It’s probably the reason I got so many colds when I was younger, but it was fun.” He turns toward Roy, tilting his head up. “Did your parents or Aunt Chris ever do anything like that for you?”

Roy pauses and thinks a moment before saying, “My parents were always too busy working to pay much attention to the rain. After they died though, Aunt Chris and the girls– well, when they weren’t working, they were playing. The rain never got in the way of that.”

“Yeah?”

Roy gives a quiet chuckle and looks back out the window, remembering. “Maddy was always the one that was obsessed with the rain. I really don’t know why, but she loved it.”

. . .

_ “Why are we outside, Maddy?” a young Roy asks, gripping onto a blonde woman’s hand as they step into the rain.  _

_ The woman– barely an adult, really– smiles at him and adjusts the umbrella so it covers both of them. “The rain doesn’t mean you should stay inside! Especially when there are thunderstorms to watch.” She leads him to the train station, where there is enough open sky and shelter at the same time to keep them safe but still be able to watch the storm. _

_ “I thought it was bad to be outside during a thunderstorm?”  _

_ Maddy sits next to him on a bench as they watch the rain pour down. “Only if you’re not being safe. You know, my dad was from Aerugo. He used to say they had tornados every other week and he would sit on top of his roof and watch them in the distance.” _

_ “That sounds dangerous.” _

_ “It is, but you can’t stop having a zest for life just because things get sketchy, kid.”  _

_ “What’s zest?” _

_ “Well, sometimes it’s when you shave an orange’s peel. That’s called an orange zest. And sometimes it’s when people just like living so much that they’ll laugh at anything.” Maddy pauses and holds up her hand in a claw. “Even the terrible tickle monster.” _

_ “No!” Roy gasps. “Who would laugh at the tickle monster?” _

_ “Well, obviously not you,” Maddy teases as she launches forward and gets him under the armpits. “You’re a wussy like that.” _

_ Roy gasps with laughter, curling in on himself and trying to kick Maddy away. “I yield, I yield!” he shouts.  _

_. . . _

“Hold up– you’re ticklish under your armpits?” Ed asks. “Can I try–?”

“If you try tickling me, I will call your brother and tell him you’re being stubborn about eating only sweets again.”

“Damn, you’re really serious.”

Roy levels a playful glare at him. “We take the tickle monster seriously in this household.” Ed throws his head back and laughs. Roy cracks a small smile and ducks his head to hide it. “Anyways,” he continues. 

. . .

_ When Maddy is done tickling him and Roy has settled down, he watches the sky for something to be excited about. But he sees nothing; it’s only grey sky and pouring rain.  _

_ “What’s so good about storms, though?” he asks.  _

_ Suddenly, a bright light cuts its way through the clouds and Roy jumps at the gigantic sound that follows it.  _

_ “That was God trying to smite you for doubting the beauty of nature,” Maddy teases, throwing Roy a calming smile.  _

_ “There is no God,” Roy says petulantly like he’s reciting something from another one of his books. “There’s no proof.” _

_ “Some would say you don’t need proof to believe,” Maddy argues. Then she looks back out to the storm. “But that’s okay, you don’t need to believe in God. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, kid; you’ll do just fine without His guidance.” _

_ “Uh,” Roy says uncertainly, “thanks?” _

_ “You’re welcome. Anyways, the thunder and lightning– were you scared of it?” _

_ Roy shakes his head. “No! I’m not scared of anything.” _

_ Maddy snorts. “Yeah, you were. But that’s okay, that’s the whole point. We’re scared of things we can’t see, or don’t know, or can’t control. But the important thing to remember is that you can’t control anything.” She pokes his nose and smiles wider when she sees him wrinkle it up. “Sometimes, you have to treat the unknown like your best friend.”  _

_ “Aunt Chris says you shouldn’t trust people you don’t know,” Roy says.  _

_ “And Aunt Chris is right. But sometimes, you gotta take that leap of faith. Sometimes, you have to trust people you don’t know or you have to do the kind thing for them.” _

_ “But why? Won’t it get you hurt?” _

_ “Not always,” Maddy says, looking back out to the storms. “Sometimes kindness is like the water cycle. You’re a science nerd, right? So you know it works. You’re kind to someone and the next day they’re kind to someone else. It keeps going and going and going. It’s the way the world works.” _

_ “But what if you get hurt?” _

_ “Then you better know how to protect yourself.”  _

_ “That doesn’t sound very safe.” _

_ “No,” Maddy says sadly, “but that’s the price of kindness.” _

. . .

“That’s surprisingly deep for an eight-year-old.”

Roy shakes his head. “Tends to happen when you hang around with a bunch of working girls. They all had their stories and most of them were sad.”

“Shit,” Ed says. “Well, she was smart, I’ll give her that.”

“Like you would know,” Roy teases. “You won’t even trust the babysitter to take care of Gray.” 

“That’s because the babysitter doesn’t have a degree in child-care,” Ed groans. “We’ve been over this!”

“You don’t have a degree in child-care either,” Roy laughs, kissing his hair. “Why am I letting you raise our kid?”

“Because it came from my sperm?” 

Roy pouts. “And my hard work.”

Ed groans again. “All you did was sign the paperwork for me! Besides, I trusted you.”

Roy blinks, completely forgetting what he was talking about earlier. “What? You trusted me with signing the paperwork?”

The younger man turns around to face Roy and grabs his hand. “I can’t believe I’m saying this cheesy bullshit, but I trusted you with my heart and I trusted you with our kid, and that definitely paid off.” He toys with the golden band around Roy’s ring finger. 

Roy openly gapes for a moment. “Is it our anniversary?” he finally asks. “Did I miss an important date?”

Ed raises an eyebrow. “What, I can’t be cheesy just because I feel like it?”

“No, this is a cause for concern,” Roy says, leaning forward and placing a hand on Ed’s head. “Are you sick? Are you dying?”

“Wh- of course not!” 

Roy frowns. “Are you sure? Do you need anything? Is this a ploy to get me to do something?”

Ed is suspiciously silent. Roy takes that as a yes.

Roy gasps. “I can’t believe you would use me like that, Edward!” He feigns stabbing himself with a knife and says, “Be still, my beating heart!”

“You used that wrong, you idiot,” Ed laughs. “Anyways, would you mind changing Gray’s diapers tonight? I don’t feel like dealing with shit.”

“Oh,” Roy pauses from his melodramatic mutilations. “Do I have to?”

“Yes, it’s the price of my sap.”

“Fine, but we’re never having another child.”

“Uh-huh.” 

“Wait– don’t ‘uh-huh’ me, Ed! What the hell is that supposed to mean?” 

Upstairs, the baby starts crying. Both parents groan. 

. . .

A year later, Madalyn Trisha Elric-Mustang is born to a surrogate mother and two happy parents. Her older brother, Grayson Maes Elric-Mustang looks down at her crib with wide golden eyes and a typical Elric grin. From then on, the two children are inseparable. 

Ed and Roy teach them to appreciate storms and to be kind. They teach them to be strong and to get back up even when you have a pole lodged in your side. They teach them that losing a few limbs and your eyesight will never be able to hold you back. 

And most importantly, they teach them how to love and trust. 

**Author's Note:**

> Did I double-post today? Why yes, yes I did. Do I have a life you ask? Nope


End file.
